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• Liquidambar styraciflua

Liquidambar styraciflua — sweet-gum

Facts

Sweet-gum is a handsome native tree that reaches the northern edge of its range in New England. It is called "sweet-gum" for the tasty, thick sap harvested from under the bark and used for everything from poultices to chewing gum. The wood of this aromatic tree species is exceptionally workable, and it is one of North America's most widely planted timber trees. Young trees have a conical form; older trees are gracefully spreading, with scaly, dark gray bark. The star-shaped leaves are lustrous green in summer, turning dark red in fall. The hard, spherical fruits have pointy projections resembling an urchin.

Habitat

Swamps, wetland margins (edges of wetlands)

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scale number

  there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Leaf scar arrangement

  there is one leaf scar per node on the stem or twig

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

  Winter bud scales

  the winter bud is naked (not covered with scales)

  Winter bud shape

  the winter buds are ovoid (egg-shaped)

• Flowers

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower petal color

  NA

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower has a hypanthium

  Inflorescence position

  the inflorescences grow on the twigs

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)
  • the inflorescence is an ament (catkin; slender, usually pendulous inflorescence with crowded unisexual flowers)

  Number of pistils

  1

  Ovary position

  • the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
  • the ovary is below the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  • NA
  • the flower lacks sepals and petals

  Petal appearance

  NA

  Petal fusion

  NA

  Sepal appearance

  NA

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Sepal tip glands

  NA

  Sepals fused only to sepals

  NA

  Stamen number

  • 10
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9

  Stamen position relative to petals

  NA

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  NA

  Fruit tissue origin

  there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a capsule (splits along two or more seams, apical teeth or pores when dry, to release two or more seeds)

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

  Wings on fruit

  there are no wings on the fruit

• Glands or sap

  Sap color

  the sap is thick and colored

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a tree

• Leaves

  Hairs on underside of leaf blade

  • the underside of the leaf has hairs on it
  • the underside of the leaf has no hairs

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  • the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
  • the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • The base of the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped, with rounded lobes)
  • the base of the leaf blade is truncate (ends abruptly in a more or less straight line as though cut off)

  Leaf blade base symmetry

  the leaf blade base is symmetrical

  Leaf blade bloom

  the underside of the leaf has no noticeable bloom

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade flatness

  the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges

  Leaf blade hairs

  • NA
  • at least some of the hairs on the leaf blade are reddish-brown, and they do not have glands
  • the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given

  Leaf blade length

  70–250 mm

  Leaf blade scales

  there are no scales on the leaf blades

  Leaf blade shape

  the leaf blade is orbicular (roughly circular, as wide as long)

  Leaf blade texture

  the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)

  Leaf blade vein pattern

  the main veins of the leaf blade are palmate (radiate out from the base, like a hand)

  Leaf blade veins

  the leaf blade has three or more main veins running from the base (or near the base) towards the tip

  Leaf blade width

  44–160 mm

  Leaf duration

  the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)

  Leaf form

  the plant is broad-leaved (with broadly flattened leaf blades)

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf teeth

  • the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth
  • the leaf blade margin is undulate (wavy), but does not have teeth

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaves per node

  there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

  Stipules

  the plant has stipules

• Place

  Habitat

  • terrestrial
  • wetlands

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • edges of wetlands
  • swamps

• Scent

  Plant odor

  the plant has a pleasantly aromatic odor

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  the bark of an adult plant is ridged or plated

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Lenticels on twigs

  there are clearly lenticels on the twigs

  Short shoots

  there are no peg- or knob-like shoots present

  Twig bloom

  there is no bloom on the twig

  Twig hairs

  the twigs have few or no hairs on them

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig scales

  there are no scales on the twig surface

  Twig winter color

  • brown
  • gray
  • green
  • red
  • yellow

  Wings on branch

  • the branch does not have wings on it
  • the branch has wings running along it

  armature on plant

  the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Occurs in wetlands or non-wetlands. (Wetland indicator code: FAC)

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae